Vietnamese startup aspires to bring wind-dried pink earrings to the world

Thanks to the application of technology, Vuong Thi Thuong increased the value of Lang Son rose apples 20 times and plans to export them to the Thai and Chinese markets.

Thuong's "Developing the value chain of organic wind-dried Hong Vanh Khuyen to create jobs and sustainable livelihoods for Tay-Nung ethnic women in the border area of ​​Lang Son" is one of three projects that won first prize at the Women's Entrepreneurship Competition 2023 held in Hanoi on October 14. The project owner is Vuong Thi Thuong, 34 years old.

Born and raised in Na Sam town, Van Lang district, Lang Son, Thuong witnessed that the rose apple tree is the main tree, a famous local specialty, but the income of growers is not commensurate with the level.

Thuong said that the persimmon variety is delicious but has a lot of water and is difficult to preserve. When the harvest season comes, if the fruit is not consumed in time, people will lose a significant source of income. When the harvest season is good, the price drops, sometimes selling for only a few thousand VND per kilogram, the rate of damage and waste is too high, so the growers are facing many difficulties. Thuong is determined to increase the value of her hometown's products. She researched and learned the experience, techniques of growing, caring for and processing persimmons from Da Lat, Korea, and Japan. She chose to apply Japanese technology to production.

Vuong Thi Thuong introduces wind-dried persimmons packaged in packaging featuring 12 famous landmarks of Lang Son. Photo: P. Nguyen

In 2021, with the support of the Department of Industry and Trade in terms of machinery, combined with preferential loans, she invested in building a production workshop with a total area of ​​over 1,000 m2, including a preliminary processing area, a greenhouse for hanging roses, and a cold storage with a total cost of over 1 billion VND. She purchased additional peeling machines, vacuum machines, racking machines, massage machines, racking machines, packaging machines... designed according to a closed process.

To expand production, Thuong established the Toan Thuong Agricultural Cooperative, with her as Director and 7 members who have experience growing persimmons locally and share the desire to increase the value of persimmons and develop a 50-hectare growing area in an organic direction.

In 2022, she built a clean production process, VietGAP standard according to food safety criteria from the planting, care and processing of products. After harvesting, persimmons are peeled and hung on a trellis in a greenhouse for about 15-20 days. During this process, on the 5th - 7th day, persimmons are massaged to increase the chewy taste, creating natural sweetness, without being astringent.

The finished wind-dried persimmons are soft and crunchy on the outside but have a sweet taste on the inside. The product takes a lot of work to make but cannot be preserved for long. "This is my biggest concern," Thuong said, adding that she researched and was consulted by experts, connecting with the Institute of Agricultural Mechanics after harvest to transfer technology to preserve persimmons in a natural way. "Now we have a closed standard process and post-harvest preservation is no longer a concern," Thuong said.

Thuong said that local people grow 1,300 hectares and harvest more than 11,200 tons of persimmons each year. On average, Toan Thuong Cooperative sells 500 tons of fresh persimmons each month. The products are distributed in northern localities such as Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Bac Giang, etc. Wind-dried persimmons are sold at 300,000 VND/kg, while fresh persimmons are only 15,000 VND/kg. In 2022, Toan Thuong Cooperative supplied the market with over 500 kg of wind-dried persimmons, with revenue of nearly 1.5 billion VND.

The red-ringed roses are hung on a drying rack for 15 days. Photo: Anh Dao

To promote local products to tourists, Thuong puts each persimmon in a small package containing information about 12 famous historical sites corresponding to 12 localities of Lang Son. The product has been copyrighted by her and has been granted a trademark protection certificate by the Department of Intellectual Property of the Ministry of Science and Technology, serving the future expansion of production.

To date, she has gathered about 10 households in the district and two cooperatives to expand 20 hectares of organic farming. The cooperative supports farmers with seedlings, fertilizers, care techniques and guarantees output for products. Thanks to that, she has created livelihoods for more than 100 indirect workers and more than 30 Tay Nung women participating directly in production.

Thuong said that currently, the wind-dried persimmon products are assigned a traceability code to each persimmon tree. "We expect to export the products to China and Thailand in 2024," Thuong said. She is building a fram stay agricultural model for tourists to experience local products.

Mr. Pham Duc Nghiem, Deputy Director of the Market Development Department, Ministry of Science and Technology, Chairman of the Jury of the Women's Startup Competition, assessed that the development potential of wind-dried persimmons is very large. The northern mountainous region rarely has any crop with a large ecological spectrum, with an economic value of over 300 million VND/ha.

However, to develop the brand of wind-dried persimmons, Mr. Nghiem said that Toan Thuong Agricultural Cooperative needs to strictly apply processing and preservation technology. "To sell to the international market, it is necessary to trace the origin of goods, plan organic growing areas and organize production systematically," he said and hoped that Lang Son province's departments and agencies would support the dream of wind-dried persimmons reaching the international market.

Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung (left cover) and President of the Vietnam Women's Union Ha Thi Nga (right cover) awarded the first prize of the 2023 Women's Entrepreneurship Competition to promote indigenous talents to the project owner "Hong vanh khuyen dang gio" (second from right). Photo: Anh Dao

The 2023 Women's Startup Competition has the theme "Women starting a business, promoting local resources". The competition aims to honor and support incubation and capacity building for cooperatives, enterprises and business households owned by women. The startup projects participating in the competition achieve the goals of preserving, developing and enhancing the value of local resources, exploiting comparative advantages in terms of ecological conditions, culture, genetic resources, knowledge and technology of the locality.

After launching in March, the competition had 2,024 startup projects participating, an increase of more than 30% compared to the competition two years ago. After the qualifying rounds, 33 projects participated in the final round, including 7 projects by ethnic minority women and 2 projects by women with disabilities.

Vinh Ha

Vnexpress.net